Page 322 of The Hopelessly Bromantic Duet
My boyfriend and I chat the rest of the way to my sister’s house, enjoying every second of this brand-new pact.
The one he says we should call the boyfriend pact.
I’m so glad he took the chance with me.
25
OWEN
Delilah slathers River in kisses, whimpering endlessly, jumping up into his arms on the front porch.
“Someone got spoiled by her aunt, but someone still likes you best,” Echo says to her brother.
“She knows who gives her gourmet biscuits,” he says, then stands, petting and scratching the dog as he circles his hand around my arm. “By the way, we’re a thing.”
Echo arches a brow. “Excuse me?”
“Owen and I,” he says, like it’s patently obvious. Maybe it is. “We’re together now.”
She shakes her head, like she’s processing this news. “You two?”
“Well, what other Owen would I be talking about?”
She points at me, then him. “You’re together? You’ve been friends for eight years, and now you’re together after one weekend?”
I shrug, give her a smile. “Snow. What can you do?”
River drapes an arm around me, then smacks his lips to my cheek. “Exactly. One road trip, one snowfall, and one cabin equals two very happy guys.”
Echo shimmies her shoulders, then lets out an epic squeal. She throws her arms around the two of us. Even though I’m not a hugger, I’ll happily take this one.
When she lets go, she says, “I was hoping you’d both see what was right in front of you.”
Once we’re back in the car, River doesn’t start the engine straight away. He turns around and sweet talks his dog for a few minutes as Delilah wags her tail, her tongue lolling from her mouth.
When he’s done lavishing attention on his dog wife, he turns to me. “You get the appeal of Paul Rudd now, don’t you?”
“I never didn’t. But I also get the appeal ofClueless. Sometimes the person you’re looking for has been in front of you all along,” I say, meeting his gaze.
River shrugs helplessly in surrender. “That’s it. You’re getting kissed senseless right now.”
He makes good on that promise for a hot, delirious minute, then turns the engine, and we cruise onto the highway to the city. Along the way, we tackle an important topic—safe sex. We’re both negative for everything, so we decide to ditch the condoms. Hallelujah. When River pulls up in front of my place, parking at the curb, he lets out a deep sigh. “So, cutie. Here’s the thing.”
I groan. “Nothing good ever came of the wordshere’s the thing.”
“Hello! Boyfriend pact. Have a little faith.”
River makes a good point. I should have faith. Iwillhave faith. “What’s the thing?”
River leans in close to me. “I know we just spent forty-eight hours together, but I kind of want to see you tonight too. And not just for the wholecome againthing. I want to spend the night with you.”
My chest flips, a loop-de-loop roller-coaster ride inside my body. “I like the sound of that.”
“Good. But I have this dog here, and I can’t quite leave her alone all night, so is there any chance you’d come over to my place, and spend the night with us?”
Easiest answer ever. “Yes. But I do have one request.”
“Lay it on me.”